Tweets, cities, health.

What if you could pinpoint the happiest areas of the city on Fridays at 6 pm in July? Or find the scariest parks in the city, or the bus stops that cause the most frustration? Discovering these places could help make us understand how to build more functional and happier cities. We are using people's Twitter messages to map aggregate patterns in emotions as expressed on Twitter. We are using Twitter to Take the Pulse of the City...

A research team from 4 universities (Wilfrid Laurier, Waterloo, Ottawa, and Loughborough ) has been developing this project in the City of Toronto, Canada over the last year. Now we want to take Tweets in the Streets to urban areas across North America!

We are looking at where and when people Tweet and what kinds of things people are saying on Twitter. We want you to help us learn how people in cities across North America use social media and how different parts of the city make you feel. Plus, if you take part in the study you will get up to $35 in Gift Cards for Starbucks or Amazon.com!

What do you have to do?

We are inviting you to participate for up to 4 weeks. We simply want you to complete a series of short surveys, which include demographic questions, as well as questions about how you feel and experience the city. We will target our short surveys based on when and where you Tweet. Over time, we want to build up a map of peoples' responses and experiences. You just have to Tweet as you normally would and occasionally answer a few questions. The study will take at most 10 minutes a day for a total of 1.5 to 2 hours over the course of the 4-week period

Who we're looking for?

Right now, we are recruiting active Twitter users that live or work in major urban areas in Canada. To participate, you must be at least 18 years of age.